Search Results
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One in Three Garages Has No Car in It
Over the decade since I moved to Portland, I have lived in seven different places. Three of those homes had off-street garages, but I always parked my car on the curb. Why? One house used the garage as an extra living room. Another driveway had a sharp turn into the garage, making it a hassle to back out of. The last garage had a steep incline to get to it,...Read more » -
How Much Are Gas Taxes? Most People Don’t Know
Author’s note June 2022: As American families buckle under high gas prices and the Biden administration considers a gas tax holiday that would almost entirely benefit Big Oil corporations, it’s worth recalling the points made below: 1) gas taxes are largely invisible to consumers, and 2) if governments really wanted to help people needing to move around their cities and towns, they’d invest generously in reducing reliance on gasoline. A...Read more » -
Yes, Long Rotations Can Yield Real Climate Gains for Cascadia
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Responsibly Sourced Gas: Boon or Boondoggle?
When Pierce Transit announced late last year that it would be rolling out a carbon-neutral gas to power its fleet, it introduced a new term to our vernacular: responsibly sourced gas (RSG). It didn’t take long for skeptics to expose the true carbon footprint of this newly branded gas—it’s nowhere near zero. But were the transit agency’s intentions directionally correct, despite the misleading marketing? Eighty percent of Pierce Transit’s bus...Read more » -
End Parking Mandates, Get a Free Bus Pass
What if more of our collective brainpower—not just our governments, but the billions of tiny decisions that add up to our entire economy—were working to reduce our dependence on the automobile? How many good little ideas might we come up with? Here’s one: apartments that come with an all-you-can-ride transit pass included. It’s happening right now in Minneapolis, the Star-Tribune reported: Metro Transit plans to expand a pilot that provides all-you-can-ride passes to residents of apartments, condos...Read more » -
Cascadia and the End of Roe
Editor’s note June 24, 2022: In the wake of the US Supreme Court reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision that protected a woman’s right to choose an abortion, we are reposting this article from Sightline fellow Valerie Tarico. US federal protection of a woman’s right to abortion will effectively end in 2022. Even if the Supreme Court shocks close observers and does not kill Roe outright, it will...Read more » -
18 Reasons Why Washington Should Legalize Middle Housing
UPDATE: Washington’s middle housing bill didn’t pass in 2022, but we anticipate a follow up in 2023, sign up here for updates. New polling finds finds 61% of voters across Washington state support legalizing middle housing, with 41% strongly supporting. Download a condensed version of this article here. Washington’s worsening housing crisis calls for an all-hands-on-deck response from the state. The core reason more and more Washingtonians cannot find...Read more » -
Fairer Elections in Portland
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Nine Reasons to End Exclusionary Zoning
Most North American cities have outlawed everything except stand-alone houses on large lots on three-quarters or more of their residential land. These zoning rules shut out all but the wealthy in two ways: they quash the number of homes allowed, and they mandate that the few homes which can be built are expensive. Efforts to revoke exclusionary zoning laws have been gaining momentum at the local, state, and federal levels....Read more » -
Environmental Justice Advocates Lead Oregon to 100 Percent Clean Electricity Future
On July 19th, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed one of the most aggressive clean electricity policies in the country. HB 2021, “100% Clean Energy for All,” aims to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity serving Oregonians by 2040 with interim targets of 80 percent reduction by 2030 and 90 percent reduction by 2035. The bill also provides funding for small scale renewable projects and establishes labor standards. A complementing...Read more »